And just like that, all is right again in the world.
Sure, the opponent was the worst team in the league and came into the contest having lost nine of its last 11. Plus, that same opponent was completely decimated by injuries to its already feeble roster. But we’ve also seen this Seattle Kraken team lower its effort against fellow bottom-dwelling teams this season (including twice against this same Sharks team).
Thankfully, the Kraken responded well after an emotional 48 hours, piled on four goals in the second period, and cruised to a stress-free 6-2 result, finally giving their fans something to cheer about.
Here are Three Takeaways from a Kraken Sharks brouhaha.
Takeaway #1: A strong response
The mood in the Kraken dressing room after morning skate on Thursday was downtrodden and serious, a departure from the usual tone of the gameday routine. Adam Larsson spoke extensively about how disappointed he was for his friend, Philipp Grubauer, who was placed on waivers Wednesday and sent to the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds.
There’s no doubt the players feel some responsibility for Grubauer’s struggles. On a more personal level, they also felt the absence of a key teammate who had been there just 24 hours earlier.
“If you look past the hockey side of things, it’s a friend that’s not here with us now,” Larsson said. “I mean, it’s tough for him, it’s tough for us, it’s tough for everyone.”
Added Bylsma: “Seeing a teammate and a friend and seeing a guy who was an original part of the Kraken, and seeing a guy you’ve had success with and seen him play good hockey, it’s a difficult thing for obviously Grubi, but the rest of the guys as well. This is ultimately a team game, and we all bear responsibility of the results of the team.”
So, with all that somber sentiment floating around the rink in the morning, I couldn’t help wondering if that would be representative of the way Seattle played in the evening.
But they channeled that emotion into a strong effort that showed they are not in the same echelon as San Jose, despite relative proximity in the standings and two past losses this season. Once they took control in the second period, momentum snowballed, and the Kraken ran away from the Sharks.
“It’s a great response,” Bylsma said after the game. “I thought we stepped over the boards tonight with a purpose, and it showed. It was a really good start and carried over for the whole 60. And just even how the game was played, it was played with emotion in it, and we played it with some passion.”
Takeaway #2: A monster second period
We’ve seen the Kraken get pushed around at times in the second period over the last month, but in this game, they were the ones doing the pushing during that frame. Oliver Bjorkstrand got the scoring train started, making it 2-1 at 2:03 of the second by capitalizing on a fortunate bounce off Chandler Stephenson’s leg and batting the puck into an open net.
Then, 51 seconds later, Brandon Montour broke his slump with his first of two goals on the night, breaking a 20-game goalless drought that dated back to Dec. 14.
BJORK-JAM AND BOMBTOUR! 💣 🎯
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 31, 2025
🚨 🚨
Two goals in 51 seconds for the #SeaKraken, one by Oliver Bjorkstrand and one by Brandon Montour.
3-1 pic.twitter.com/LlYiptMMzt
“Any time you can score some goals and see them going in, it’s nice,” Montour said. “It’s been a little cold the last… I don’t even know, 15, 20 games. But you keep creating. You get in cold spells, you try to find other ways to help the team. I like where my game’s at, but it’s nice to get a couple.”
Jaden Schwartz also continued his scoring ways, finishing a breakaway chance through Yaroslav Askarov’s wickets after Jamie Oleksiak found him with a stretch pass when he came out of the penalty box, ending Askarov’s night. And, heck, the power play even came through on a 5-on-3 with a nice tic-tac-toe passing play between Jared McCann and Stephenson that ended with a big Montour blast.
BRANDON BOMB-TWO-ER! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 31, 2025
Great setup on the 5-on-3 by Stephenson and McCann, and Brandon Montour blasts home his second of the night.
5-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/5hw3xKDVo0
“It starts with a face-off win, making plays, getting shooters in the right spots,” Montour said. “And then, obviously, it’s 5-on-3, so spread them out, and good plays by everyone.”
Eeli Tolvanen capped off the scoring in the game by cutting to the slot and rifling a snapper past Alexandar Georgiev at 12:18 of the third, extending his goal-scoring streak to four games.
Takeaway #3: Fisticuffs
This game had more feistiness than I would have expected between two of the worst teams in the Pacific Division (although it is worth noting the Kraken jumped back ahead of the Ducks for sixth place after temporarily falling behind them).
It started in the first period when Luke Kunin blindsided Oleksiak in front of the Sharks bench, and Tye Kartye immediately responded with a questionable hit from behind on Kunin. San Jose didn’t like that hit, but with the game still close, everyone eventually went their separate ways.
Luke Kunin lays a crushing hit on Jamie Oleksiak. Tye Kartye retaliates, and some behind-the-play silliness ensues.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 31, 2025
No penalties, cooler heads prevail. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/V8Bur1BbSF
But in the second period, when the game had fully tilted Seattle’s way, there was no longer a need for maintaining the peace. Kunin was in the middle of it again, poking at Joey Daccord after he had covered the puck. Montour gave Kunin a jab, Kunin shoved back, and all hell broke loose, with the Sharks forward temporarily facing a 1-on-5 battle.
It ended with Vince Dunn giving Henry Thrun a thorough whoopin’.
FISTICUFFS! 🥊
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 31, 2025
One of the bigger brouhahas we’ve seen in a #SeaKraken game.
Starts with Kunin and Montour, ends with Vince Dunn feeding Henry Thrun his lunch. pic.twitter.com/CZPTJIrm3V
“I think, obviously, our home record just overall has never been good enough, and we want to make this place a hard place to play,” Dunn said. “So that comes with attitude, and sometimes things happen like that. So I think everyone just came out, battled hard. We know, obviously, the tough situation with [Grubauer], and they kind of come after our goalie a little bit there, so we’ve got to stand up for him.”
Hear from Brandon Montour about what started the big second-period brouhaha. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/YH8y97mzze
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 31, 2025
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
I thought we had traded Gru to the Sharks the way those goals went in the second period. It is no wonder they have such a pathetic record. We still have issues with our D with their 1st goal. Both D men up high and no one in front of the net.We needed those points though because we gave them 2 wins earlier in the year.
Super fun to watch. I hope they can bring that fire to the next one as well.
Been awhile since we’ve watched a non stressful game. Much prefer watching any game though from our KHN team.
Since Joey returned from injury the Kraken are 6-3 in his nine starts with the three loses coming against the teams with the three best win percentages in the entire league. He’s averaging just 2.22 goals against over the nine and the Kraken goal differential is +11 at 33 to 22… are we sure the defense is terrible?
At a certain point when the eye test, stats, coach, and players themselves are saying it’s true…you just kind of have to believe it’s true. The D has been bad, or at least floating around bottom 10 all year. Joey has been ungodly, probably 2nd only to Hellebuyck all year. They’re bottom 10 in high danger and medium danger shots against, and while I know that stat has issues, they are bottom 5 in expected goals against. Meanwhile, Joey is 3rd in the NHL in goals saved above expected.
I think this paints a pretty clear picture. Our D leaves a lot of messes, and Joey cleans it up. I also think that the D being bad but Joey being top tier explains the Kraken’s performances this year much more eloquently than the idea that they were somehow playing radically different in front of Grubauer vs. Joey.
The question in my mind is no longer if the D has been bad, it’s why. I’m not sure if it’s a personnel or systems issue, but my hunch is it’s the latter.
All good points. All reasonable and certainly justifiable.
It seems to me like the only time the coach talks about the defense breaking down is after a Grubauer start. That also seems to be when there’s a lot of “eye test” on the mistakes. Unfortunately, pretty much any goal is because of a breakdown by the defense and… if the goalie doesn’t make the saves those get a lot of attention.
I think the volume is driving some of those expected goals numbers. The Kraken give up a ton of shot attempts but I think a big part of that is actually on the offense. They are below average in o-zone time and I think a lot of that is struggling to maintain possession in the zone. They are by extension in their own zone more than average… and allow more chances than almost any team in the league. They’re below average in high-danger shots against, but they’re something like 30th in the rate of low-danger shots against. Those are the shots you want to surrender, but I think that’s adding to that xGA/60.
They seem to have a hard time clearing the puck sometimes, but I think a lot of the volume against is related to a lack of possession in the o-zone.
I think Joey is definitely bailing this team out, but not to the extent that Grubauer has been sinking it. His xGA/60 is actually a bit lower than Joey’s… 2.87 vs 2.99, but he’s averaging a full 1.4 more goals against.
I am not saying the defense is stellar… not by a longshot, but I don’t think they’re as bad as some of the numbers might imply and I certainly don’t thing they’re why Grubauer is struggling. Considering the players they have it feels like a “bubble team” defense and to me it seems like that’s what it’s been. Going into the season I think most folks thought that’s what this team would be. I think there have been two barriers to making the playoffs that have been more significant than the defense… lack of scoring – still – and the backup goaltending.
Looking forward to Calgary…
I feel like there’s still plenty to root for this season.
Go Kraken!!!
Chandler Stephenson was really up-and-down the first half of the season, but this month he has been outstanding even in the losses and not just on offense. When he turns it on he is something else, and lately the quality play has been sustained. Vegas fans, please tell me that this is his “normal,” because I am seriously digging his game right now.
Given the new cap numbers released by the NHL/NHLPA yesterday in which there will be a significant increase in the cap the next three years, there is no reason not to buy out both Grubauer and Burakovsky after this season. That action will give the Kraken an additional $7.4 million and $5.1 million in cap space the next two seasons, while causing an almost negligible hit of -$3.1 million in both 27-28 and 28-29. That should allow the Kraken plenty of flexibility to get something done with Kakko, bring in some veteran depth pieces (like a back up G), and create some roster space for a young forward.
Buy them both out and move on.